Reflections on ‘Revenge’

In the Name of God, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful

PART I

As you may have guessed, I recently saw Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. I absolutely loved it. Just as George Lucas said, it was the darkest of the six films, and I was particularly disturbed by how evil Anakin Skywalker became when he turned into Darth Vader. (By the way, if you have not seen the film and don’t want me to ruin it for you, I would suggest you stop reading here…)

The film’s themes were many, and after seeing the movie, I could not help but deeply reflect on a number of them. There was one that permeated the entire film: the future and what to do about it. Throughout the movie, Anakin had dreams that Padme would die in childbirth; it haunted his entire existence. He was determined that it did not come true, and it was this determination - ultimately - that led the young Padawan to the path of the Dark Side.

Anakin, from the very beginning of the six film saga, was deeply affected by the absence of his mother. Naturally, he missed her tremendously and was always afraid of losing her, something which eventually happened when she was abducted by the Sand People in Episode II. This deeply painful experience made him stop at nothing to prevent him from losing Padme, and Darth Sidious sinisterly capitalized on this fear to turn Anakin into Darth Vader.

Yet, his motivation to prevent Padme from dying in childbirth - trying to alter the course of time and history - set into motion the events that led him to become the evil Sith lord he became. Darth Sidious, a.k.a., Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, told him of the story of the Sith lord who learned to use the midiclorians to bring people back to life. Anakin - out of love for Padme, no doubt - wanted to learn this power to save his love. Thus, he turned to the Dark Side, led the fight to destroy the Jedi, and then almost died at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Because Padme thought Anakin was dead, she lost the will to live and died herself, in fulfillment of the vision of the future Anakin had.

Thus, Anakin became evil, wreaked havoc, and in the end did not alter the course of events. This theme is a common one in literature, and it has been the source of stories since ancient times. Take Oedipus Rex, for example. Oedipus’ father, Laius, learned of a vision that his son was to kill him and sleep with his wife. Seeking to head off this event - again, trying to alter the course of time and history - he left Oedipus to die. Yet, he did not die, and was raised by a shepherd instead, leading to events which culminated in - you guessed it -Oedipus killing his father and marrying his mother.

The moral to these two stories, in my mind, is this: when one is not God, one should not try to play Him. If God wants something to happen, it is going to happen, despite our best efforts at trying to avert it from happening. In fact, frequently, our actions at trying to stop the event actually lead to it, i.e., Anakin Skywalker and Laius. That is why, perhaps, we have not been given knowledge of the future, because if we had, there probably would be chaos on the earth. Could you imagine if everyone had knowledge of the future? Everyone would be trying to alter events to their own benefit, and it would lead to utter turmoil between humanity (as if there is not enough turmoil on earth already).

Now, Qui Gon Jinn’s words in Episode I make so much more sense. Young Obi-Wan Kenobi said that Master Yoda told him to be mindful of the future. Qui Gon replied, “Not at the expense of the moment…be mindful of the Living Force, young Padawan.” Anakin did not take Qui Gon’s advice to focus on the moment (remember, he told the young Anakin that in the first film), and Anakin’s obsession with preventing Padme from dying led to his becoming Darth Vader and nearly killing Padme on Mostafar.

Now, we all sort of try to alter the events of the future: prospective doctors and lawyers work their hardest to be accepted into medical and law school, respectively; we all try to apply for the best jobs; we all work hard to buy a particular pair of jeans, or car, or house. Yet, this is not the same as knowing that tomorrow I will be hit by a car, and thus staying home tomorrow for fear of this knowledge. It simply won’t work.

It’s like the story of a man at the time of King Solomon, recounted in a hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The man noticed that the Angel of Death had been eyeing him the whole day in the court of King Solomon. Thus, the man went to the King-Prophet (peace be upon him) and asked him to command the winds to send him to India. The King obliged his request and then asked the Angel of Death why he had eyed that man with such intensity. He said, “Because God had commanded me to take the soul of this man in India, and I wondered how I would do so with him sitting in your court here.”

When God says to something “Be,” it becomes, and nothing we can do will change that. This does not mean I am fatalistic. No, I do my best to have the best life, best future, best job for me and my family. I pray my hardest that the outcome I desire actually comes true every single time. But, thinking that I am like God and can change the future will ultimately end in abject failure, because in the end, it God - and only God - Who is in charge.

PART II

As I said in my previous post, watching Revenge of the Sith has led me to reflect over a great many things. Another one of these is the origins of evil. From where did evil come in the first place? What is the root of all sin, all evil? I believe it is arrogance. You can see it in the conduct of the Sith throughout all six films of the Star Wars epic. Darth Sidious engineers the invasion of Naboo by the Trade Federation in the very first film. Why? For his own aims; he cares nothing for the effect on the Naboo or the other star systems. Arrogance.

He tells the Viceroy to kill the Jedi, wipe out the Gungans, and tries to have Queen Amidala kidnapped. All out of arrogance. The same goes for Episode II. In Revenge, you can see the arrogance in full form. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine tells Anakin to kill Count Dookoo, Palpatine’s own apprentice. Later, Palpatine - speaking as Darth Sidious - said that the murder was a necessary move. Arrogance. Palpatine does the exact same thing in Return of the Jedi. He tells Luke Skywalker, standing over Darth Vader with lightsaber to his throat: “Your hate has made you powerful. Now, fulfill your destiny and take your father’s place at my side.”

Now that I have seen all six films, this last exchange took on an entirely new significance. How could the Emperor tell Luke to kill Darth Vader? How, after everything that Vader did for Palpatine? It was Anakin Skywalker’s command of the Force that led to the Emperor taking over the galaxy. It was Darth Vader who helped Palpatine destroy the Jedi, allowing the Galactic Empire to come to power. It was the fear of Darth Vader, not the old Emperor, that kept the Imperial footsoldiers and workers in line. The Emperor did basically nothing. Thus, how dare he tell Luke to kill Vader? Didn’t the Emperor have any sort of loyalty?

Absolutely not. This was because the Emperor was not only evil, but arrogant. The root of his evil was his arrogance. I believe all those who are evil are, at the root of things, arrogant. They believe that the law (of God, of nature, etc.) do not apply to them. Thus, they can do whatever they feel is in their best interest, and to hell with the effect on other people. When I willfully and wantonly disobey God, I am being arrogant against Him. I feel that the requests of God - my Creator, the One who gave me life when I was dead - do not apply to me. How arrogant can that be?

The first sin ever committed, in fact, was one of arrogance:

And Lo! Thy Sustainer said unto the angels: “Be­hold, I am about to establish upon earth one who shall inherit it.” They said: “Wilt Thou place on it such as will spread corruption thereon and shed blood - whereas it is we who extol Thy limitless glory, and praise Thee, and hallow Thy name?” [God] answered: “Verily, I know that which you do not know.” And He imparted unto Adam the names of all things; Then He brought them within the ken of the angels and said: “Declare unto Me the names of these [things], if what you say is true.” They replied: “Limitless art Thou in Thy glory! No knowledge have we save that which Thou hast imparted unto us. Verily, Thou alone art all-knowing, truly wise.” Said He: “O Adam, convey unto them the names of these [things].” And as soon as (Adam) had conveyed unto them their names, [God] said: “Did I not say unto you, “Verily, I alone know the hidden reality of the heavens and the earth, and know all that you bring into the open and all that you would conceal?” And when We told the angels, “Prostrate yourselves before Adam!” They all prostrated them­selves, save Iblis [Satan], who refused and gloried in his arrogance: and thus he became one of those who deny the truth (2:30-34, emphasis added).

After this, Satan made it his mission in life to take this creation of God’s - along with his progeny - into damnation with him: “[Iblis] said: “Now that Thou hast thwarted me, I shall most certainly lie in ambush for them all along Thy straight way” (7:16). All out of arrogance. Now, the overwhelmig majority of those who sin do not do so out of spite for God, I believe. Most sins are because of our succombing to human weaknesses, not our arrogance. Yet, deliberate disobedience to God, I believe, is out of sheer arrogance.

This arrogance, however, ultimately leads to the destruction of the arrogant one. Thus, the Emperor, in the end, was destroyed by his own arrogance. Luke spoke the truth when he told Palpatine, “Your overconfidence is your weakness.” The Emperor never thought - in his arrogance - that Darth Vader would intervene to save his son from the lightning bolts of the Dark Side of the Force emanating from the Emperor’s hands. That led to his destruction.

Back here on earth, the arrogant are ultimately defeated, because, there is only One Who is the Greatest, and that is God. And He has no rivals whatsoever. 

PART III

Besides arrogance and trying to alter the future, one of the most important themes of Episode III - throughout all six films, actually - is anger and the path down which it leads. From the very beginning of the saga, when Qui Gon Jinn wanted to train the young Anakin Skywalker, Yoda objected because of the fear within Anakin. A Jedi master told him, “Your thoughts dwell on your mother.”

“I miss her,” was Anakin’s reply.

“Afraid to lose her, I think,” said Yoda.

“What’s that got to do with anything?” quipped a feisty Anakin.

“Everything!” said Yoda. “Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate…leads to suffering.”

And that was the key, wasn’t it? Anakin’s fear of losing Padme - like he lost his mother before - ultimately led him to become a vicious agent of evil. That fear, however, did not endure. Anakin was quickly consumed by anger, which caused him to almost kill his beloved Padme with the Force.

Anger. It can be a powerful ally, but it is liable to quickly consume the individual and lead him or her down the path of the “Dark Side.” Uncontrolled anger can almost become a psychosis, clouding the judgment of the individual and causing him or her to do harmful, if not downright dangerous, things. Anger has caused traffic accidents, highway shootings, high school massacres, church burnings and bombings, hate crimes of all stripes, rapes, murders, you name it. How many of us - in the midst of our anger - have said horrible things that we never actually mean to those we dearly love? Although arrogance is at the root of all sin and evil, anger is a stalwart companion in many, if not all, crimes against other human beings.

That is why the Qur’an counts among the “righteous” those “who spend (freely), whether in prosperity or in adversity; [and] who restrain anger, and pardon others…” (3:134) [emphasis added]. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) once counseled a Companion, “Do not become angry.” When the Companion asked again for some advice, the Prophet again answered, “Do not become angry.” In addition, the Prophet told us that “the strong person is not the one who can wrestle others to the ground. The strong person, rather, is the one who can control himself when he becomes angry.”

Does this mean, however, that we should never become angry? No. First of all, the Qur’an is full of references of God’s anger, of which these are just a few:

“If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein (For ever): And the wrath and the curse of God are upon him, and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him.”(4:93)

“Punishment and wrath have already come upon you from your Lord…” (7:71).

“Eat of the good things We have provided for your sustenance, but commit no excess therein, lest My Wrath should justly descend on you: and those on whom descends My Wrath do perish indeed!” (20:81)

If God becomes angry - and He is the source of everything in the universe - then it is only natural for human beings to also become angry. In addition, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) also became angry, and such instances are well-documented in his biography. So, what did the Prophet (pbuh) mean when he said “Do not become angry.” He meant, I believe, that we must never let our anger get out of control.

We can see this in the very verses and Prophetic traditions I cited. In verse 3:134, God praises the righteous because they “restrain [their] anger.” He did not say the righteous never become angry. The same is true for the Prophet’s saying about the strong ones: they are able to control themselves when they become angry. So, the righteous believer can become angry, but he or she never allows their anger to consume them.

In the Star Wars saga, the Jedi are not supposed to have any anger in their hearts, a very difficult standard indeed. But Episode III shows us why this is the case: anger can lead to hatred and evil. The same is true in the real world, but in the real world, there are probably very few people - if no people at all - who could never become angry. Succumbing to anger is part and parcel of the human condition. Thus, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) taught us what to do if we ever sense that our anger is beginning to get the best of us.

If our anger beings to consume us while standing, we should sit down. If this happens and we are sitting, we should lie down. Another safety mechanism the Prophet (pbuh) taught us to employ for protection from our own anger is wudu’, or the ritual ablution prior to prayer. The act of going to the wash basin (or washroom) and putting water (usually cold water) on your face, hands, arms, head, and feet not only soothes you, but makes you step back and reflect over the cause of your anger. It is a powerful weapon against being consumed by your anger.

One only wonders what would have happened if Anakin had learned to control his anger. Yet, I don’t think this would ever happen, because then there would be no Episode IV, V, and VI. Nevertheless, the lessons of Star Wars are universal: while anger is a part of the human condition, it must be restrained and controlled, lest it leads to evil, both in word and deed. It is a challenge, no doubt, but it is one which can only make every one of us a much better person in the end.

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